OCR Text |
Show OPINION rhursday,May21,2007 Page 4 LlNDSEY SINE Free advice Come and get it while it's fresh I KURT FHANCOM/n* Daily Utah Chronklt Called to serve? Romney's faith raises racial questions D uring Jay Leno*s usual pandering of Republican candidates, he asked Mitt Romney if, as president, he would practice diversity. .Mitt's reply: "Discrimination is wrong." He could have added,'"Babies are precious" and, "The sky is blue." Mitt is right. Discrimination is wrong. Now if only he believed it. As Massachusetts' governor, his record has a few scratches on it. When it came to appointing women and minorities to judicial posts, the record skipped constantly. To his credit, he did appoint a large number of minorities to state offices near the end of his term, but only after being hounded by the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts. Besides, he had made his intentions known to run for president and was ready to begin the usual flopping around. As expected, it leads right back to everyone's favorite topic: his LDS faith. Way back in 1978, NICHOLAS God tapped the Church of Jesus PAPPAS Christ of Latter-day Saints' _ _ _ _ president—and prophet—Spencer W. Kimball on the shoulder and told him it was time to tidy up a few things.The church swept under the rug all the well-documented and racist dogma proclaiming blacks were ah inferior race. Blacks could now be priests, serve missions and be married in the temple. Many not familiar with the faith like to think this is a contradiction—that an all-knowing God would just wake up one day and change his mind. Not so. It's called "continuous revelation." He doesn't change his mind; he'just keeps a few secrets to tell later. To put it in simple terms, life is a puzzle and God is giving us a piece at a time. Mitt could learn from his own faith—"continuous revelation" sure sounds better than "flip flopping"—though he should be prepared for the rest of us to put together a puzzle of our own: the connection between his personal decisions and those of the LDS Church. In their defense, the leaders of the LDS Church have put together a good portfolio showing they are no longer racists. They have begun extensive genealogy of African-Americans, have widened missions in Africa and even have a few blacks in the Quorums of the Seventy. The problem is, they refuse to apologize for their defense of the past. To do so would be admitting they were wrong, and goes against the whole philosophy of revelation. Being unwilling to say 'Tm sorry" will be hard to explain to casual voters and the important minority ballots. Conservatism is inherent in the LDS Church and would no doubt raise suspicions about the level of diversity representation in the "White House. In a speech, Romney proclaimed that his faith would not be an issue in his governing. But the two are impossible to separate. In fact, he is looking more like a Provo resident every day. He proposes huge tax cuts and decreases in government spending, is pro-life to the absolute, opposes same-sex marriage and would, without a doubt, appoint as many conservatives to the Supreme Court as he possibly could. Mitt Romney's nomination seems like a long-shot, but with the pratfalls of John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, it truly may all come down to faith. In his case, there would be no separating church from state. letters@ chronicle.utah.edu remember when there used to be an advice column in The Chronicle. , It ran in the A&E section and it was, for the most part, sex and dating advice. Since its departure from these pages, I have always wanted to see a new advice column take its place—a column that was less love and more life advice. So here it is, a column to provide answers and direction for any situation that may arise in the life of any college student. Before you jump to the conclusion that this column is a frivilous waste of space—or that you wouldn't take my advice if I was paying you—hear me out. I think one of the most beneficial things about an advice column is that everyone has the potential to benefit from reading it. At this academic stage in our lives, a lot of us share the same woes—money trouble, dating stress, lack of life direction and motivation. Though we may not all be the same—for instance, I'm a single woman and you might be a married man with children—we all have the potential to learn from and help each other. I can't remember how many times I have read an advice column, felt a level of relation to the person seeking advice and then benefited from the advice given to that person-1 hope that this column can do the . very same thing, and that's why I want to write it. I don't have a degree and I am no more or less qualified than the next person to be telling you what to do with your life, but I've been through and seen a lot in my time, and I can relate and offer an insightful outside perspective on the problems you may have. So, dearest readers, let's give this thing a shot. If you are struggling in any part of your life, write me a letter, ask me a question and I will print it in the paper along with an insightful response that I have taken time to carve out just for you. letters@chronicle.utah.edu Faking an opinion Ignoring our past mistakes Something that both guys and girls can do! Textbooks don't tell it like it is C olumn writing. It's a matter of getting all fired up on a regular basis—even if in reality, you could barely give a crapMaybe it's intellectually dishonest, defending arguments you don't really believe in, expounding on ideas that youdon't actually care about, giving advice that you would never take. Or maybe it's just logical, considering the type of people who are drawn to this sort of writing. Former debaters, future lawyers, aspiring writers, present English or political science majors—you know the type. Many an Opinion Editor at The Daily Utah Chronicle has attempted recruiting outside that very narrow box, but usually those who are truly passionate about something (animal rights, the environment, foreign affairs) peter out after a month or so. In general, the ones who stick around are mostly just passionate about writing, and then force themselves to be passionate—or at least approximate passionabout the things they chose to write. I don't mean to paint a cynical picture. In general, most writers usually believe most of what they're writing. Some believe all of it, all of the tune. But I'm willing to bet there is not a single me. "We totally hated you," he laughed. A bit creepy, but not offensive. I'm not really the person he and his friends hated. My biggest problem when it comes to writing in a public RUTHANNE forum is thinking people will .take things as lightly as I do. I'm FROST shallow and not easily offended (okay, indulging in some "Dear Diary" time right now), and I like to think that people will take my throw-away comments and columnist who doesn't toss in a little extra indignation or sprin- jokes in the same light-hearted manner in which I made them. kle a nice sugar coating when it It always comes as a rather suits his or her purposes. unpleasant surprise (or by this A columnist is getting paid to communicate a point, to encour- time, unpleasant reminder) that most people take themselves age debate. A column is not very, very seriously indeed. "Dear Diary" time. As much as I love you, dear readers, you aren't (Stern face.). going to be able to plum the inPrime example: student govner depths of my soul simply by ernment. This comment alone perusing my columns. just forced a wad of panties and/or boxer shorts into the The fact is, some weeks, writcollective butt crack of ASUU. I ers are burnt out and they've got don't even mean anything by it, to write something. Sometimes but there it is, all the same. a writer's true feelings about an issue just won't make for a very I guess that's just the lot in good column. And that's where life a columnist learns to live the disconnect between Susie with—readers taking things Smith, real person, and Susie more seriously than they were Smith, newspaper columnist, is written, which is an even bigger found. problem considering that most opinions were slightly exaggerThe very first communication ated to begin with. I ever received from one of my now-best friends was an e-mail It's gotten to the point where if telling me that I was stupid and a family member or friend menlame. Yep—a letter to the editor, tions they've read something I've from a relative stranger, to a rela- written, I find myself rushing to tive stranger. clarify, "It's only a column, you know." Months later, when I actually made this person's acquaintance, Funny, because a column I didn't even put two and two . should be a reflection of what I together. It was only much later really think. that he admitted not only to beAnd it usually is. ing the author of the letter, but Mostly. to sitting in classes with variletters@ ous friends and making fun of chronicle.utah.edu O ne of the most memorable scenes from the book The TRISTAN Adventures of Tom Sawyer is when BENNETT Tom tricks several local school children into painting, or whitewashing, a fence for him. Tom convinces them by making them think he is having a great time and that any person not whitewashing the fence is missing out. In a similar way, we as pupils are being tricked into believing the things professors and textbooks say. It is a mistake to try and gl'-ss over the dark pieces of truth or history with a fresh coat of paint, or whitewash. This is especially true of American history textbooks that like to cover up the unpleasant things of the past with a fresh coat of modern-day wisdom. In today's language, this type of "covering up" is known as whitewashing. It never hurts to see the world from another person's perspective—especially historically. However, there is only one version of the truth, even if that truth is dark and-nasty. Let's face it. Christopher Columbus' world-changing discovery altered the lives of countless millions, and many of those millions were affected for the worse. Finding a "new world" brought a bloody clash of cultures, values and civilizations. The "explorers" did some nasty things hi the name of exploration and educating the "savages," and yet this is rarely, if ever, taught in school. The past can't be altered, and many people have gone to the edge of insanity trying to correct past mistakes. It is said that in communist Russia, when a new leader would come into power, they would attempt to erase all of the history that was recorded previously, thereby erasing the memories of the rulers who had power before them. In comparing the circumstance of whitewashed history with literature, George Orwell's book 1984 has a main character employed by the state in an office where he is supposed to eliminate and censor the information being given to the masses. This system is shown to be so complex that he is not even the first person to read the news—he is one, of many who are meant to eliminate several words while someone before and after him continues the job. The leaders of that land see the truth as explosive and potentially damaging to their power. » Our situation today might not be as dangerous, but how long will it take for it to become so, especially if we continue to follow this vein of political correctness, historical whitewashing and fear of offending or hurting someone's feelings? •To whitewash our history is to deny who we are and where we have come from. To whitewash our history is to mock everyone who has tried to bring the truth to light, however ugly or grimy it might actually be. To whitewash our history is to say that we have learned nothing from past errors. letters@ chronicle.utah.edu |